What Is Glaucoma

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness throughout the world affecting millions of people. Glaucoma is a disease of the eye that causes damage to the optic nerve.

Normal Vision

Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve, which is the cable that connects the eye to the brain. It is a serious and potentially blinding condition that can affect your vision so slowly that you don’t even realize that damage is occurring. By the time visual loss from glaucoma is noticed, the effects are irreversible.

Vision with Advanced Glaucoma

The key is to detect glaucoma early when a number of effective glaucoma treatments exist to preserve vision and prevent blindness.

Who is at Risk from Glaucoma? Glaucoma may affect anyone. However, factors that increase a person’s risk include:

Increasing age

African-American Heritage

High Blood Pressure

Family History

Diabetes

Nearsightedness

Long-term steroid treatment

Injury or trauma to the eye

What Causes Glaucoma?

If the drainage passage inside the eye is mechanically blocked or isn’t functioning correctly, the clear fluid inside the eye, the aqueous humor, builds up. This causes increased pressure inside the eye that can damage the optic nerve.

What are the Different Types of Glaucoma?

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma. In this condition the drainage passage inside the eye is open but is not functioning correctly. Fluid builds up inside the eye causing the pressure to rise.

Closed-angle glaucoma occurs when the drainage passage of the eye becomes completely blocked. Occasionally this can occur very rapidly resulting in symptoms of blurred vision, severe eye pain, headache and nausea.